


The Lure of Flying

by ishtarelisheba



Series: Better to Face the Bullets 'verse [9]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Gen, Ish promptathon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-26
Updated: 2017-03-26
Packaged: 2018-10-10 12:21:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 780
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10437648
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ishtarelisheba/pseuds/ishtarelisheba
Summary: Visiting the hospital to retrieve something left behind by his no longer employed wife, David seeks out Captain Gold for another little chat about planes and offers a bit of encouragement.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt - _rowofstars said: BtFtB: Something where David comes back to the hospital (maybe MM left something behind and she’s afraid to come back and get it??) and he and Rum have another chat (I need my WWI Sheep Bros okay)._

His day hadn't been a dark one, as such, but it wasn't what he would have called easy. Tolerable, perhaps.

It was no different to any other Saturday; mostly sedate, for his part of the ward, a bit lonely. Today simply seemed that doubled. He didn't feel rattled or upset, really, only a bit blue. But he missed his son and he missed Belle, despite knowing that he would see them in the morning. Hargreaves was having a worse day of his own, and he had an excellent idea in sleeping his way through it, but that meant that Rummond had no distraction in the Lieutenant.

Rummond wasn't terribly hungry, but he'd eaten as much from his breakfast tray as he could stand because he knew the looks and nudging that Belle would give him over it. He would much rather have filled his stomach with hot tea. Nurse Halloran had Belle's beds in her absence, though, and he didn't feel like explaining twice how he took his tea.

"Hi. Morning," David greeted as he approached, stepping over to Rummond's bunk. 

"Good morning," Rummond said with a bit of a questioning look. With Nurse Nolan dismissed, he hadn't expected to see the boy anytime too soon.

David gestured with a small, black, knit something folded in one hand. "I was just, uh- Mary Margaret left her good mittens in the coat room, and she wasn't too comfortable coming back for them herself."

"Ah. Understandable."

"Yeah. From what she says, it was a pretty big blow-up."

"It was that," Rummond confirmed. "She did stand up for herself, though. Took a good, long time."

"I'm not sure Mary Margaret's ever had a cross word for her before, but she came home in a fury that day." David chuckled, shaking his head. "Guess she finally got a gullet full."

"I'd be shocked if more don't join her in telling the head nurse what she can do with that vicious streak of hers."

David glanced at the ward doors. "Something has to give. It can't go on like this. She's..."

"Mm," Rummond agreed with a hum. 

"Hey, thanks for the idea about the boneyard," David said. "I found the perfect propeller. Hardly a scratch on it. All it needed was a good sanding and refinish."

"So you've done with your Jenny, then?"

"Just about. I need a couple more parts and I'll have her up in the air. Well, ideally. You never know until you try to start the engine, I guess."

Rummond nodded, grinning. "I'm sure you'll do just fine."

"I'm thinking I'll do something useful with her. You know, set up some kind of small business to make deliveries for local folks," David said, patting his wife's mittens against his palm. "Maybe give rides at fairs, festivals, things like that."

"That sounds as if it'll be lucrative, once you've gotten it all set, built a base of customers."

"I was thinking it'll take a couple of years, maybe, for it to really start bringing in a liveable income. We're not hurting for money, and the way my job schedules, I can start out my own runs on my off days until I'm bringing in enough to quit."

"You've a good plan, sounds like," Rummond said, watching the boy shrug and cross his arms as he explained his idea. "If you want it, you'll get there."

"Mary Margaret has some doubts, but yeah, I feel like it's pretty solid." David smiled proudly under the praise. "I suppose I should go before she sends Emma out to search." 

"You're welcome to visit. You needn't wait to be sent for another pair of mittens," Rummond told him, teasing.

"I'll do that." David smiled, hesitating before he turned to leave and immediately turning back. "Captain, you ought to think about flying again."

Rummond did his best to come up with a response that expressed his doubt that he ever could without speaking about exactly _why._ He was still failing to put the words together when David finally saved him by going on.

"I know there's-" David stopped, shaking his head at himself. "If you ever feel like going up again, I'd like to know. I'd like to... help, if I can. That's all I mean."

"We'll see," Rummond said quietly, and he left it at that.

"Thanks again for that boneyard thought. Don't know I'd have found a propeller by now otherwise.

Rummond nodded, his smile a bit thinner. "You're more than welcome."

The boy raised a hand in farewell. Rummond echoed the gesture, left thinking about what it might be like to fly again and wondering if he would ever be able to manage it.

**Author's Note:**

> _(Takes place between chapters 119 and 120.)_


End file.
